Landing gear for aircraft



I Oct. 10, 1933. H. s DUELL 1,929,630

LANDING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Sept. 15, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. HOLLAND 5. DUELL,

BYM, @WM 2 W.

ATTORNEYS.

Oct. 10, 1933. 5 DUELL 1,929.63)

LANDING GEAR FOR AIRCRAFT Filed Sept. 15. 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l6 l5 /5 Frlgnb 1N VEN TOR.

HOLLAND 6. DUELL.

M, flwww & dam

ATTORNEYS.

' It isanobject of Patented Oct. 10, 1933 LANDING HollandSQDuell, Larchmont, l

- Alipl cation'septmber 15; 1 931 I Serial No. 562,899

7 team ((31.1244-72).

, This invention relates to a structqrauy and functionally improved landing gear for association with aircraft and- .particularly for use with.

so called ffamphibian type of plane.

landing gear of t is the invention to provide a type bymeans of whichfan airplane may be readily adapted for taking; off

1 and/or alighting on either land or water."

A further object providing alanding .gear'of th be easily manipulated by] thernumldegree of effort. Another object of the mv "of the jmvenuqn is that a:

is type which-may pilot witha miniention is that of fur- A still further object is that of providing a rigidly maintained in either position.

. Yet another furnishing a landi of which will be dividually. simp relatively few landing gear of the amphibian type which is its waten or land object of l the invention isthat of nggear of this type, the parts number. and in le and. rugged in construction,

these parts being capable of being readily assembled to furnish an apparatus which will operate over long periods of time with freedom from mechanical difficulty.

With these and other objects in mind, refer-v ence is had to the attached sheets of drawings invention, and in which v illustrating one practical embodiment of the off and alighting' on the surface of the water; Fig. 2 is aside view of the airplane shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front view f the airplane shown in Fig. 1 with the landinggear in position to allow taking off and alighting on land;

Fig. 4 is a cross sectio nism' which effects tran nal view of the mechasformation of the gear from that suitable for use on land to one for M use on water;

Fig. 5 is a top view of the detail of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is a top sectional view of a further detail of the mechanism shown in Fig. 4.

With reference to the several views andparticularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, a conventional type of airplane is shown which is provided with supporting strut ing gear.

s '10 for association with the land-f rise a part of the and'mounted on the shaft 18 .is a further bevel tions and arrangement of. parts will vary in diforiginalequipment of theplaneand it"is' tentionthat they may be utilized without change connection with my improved type of landing gear. Rigid cross members 11. are associated vvithtliev supporting struts by means, for example, ,o f'collars '12. which may be'securely fastened to the members 11 in any suitable manner. Each outer end of themembers llisfformedgwith a pivot 13, to which is 'secured' the landing' gear.

This landing gear comprises "pontoonslifand wheels 15, the latter being secured to the pontoons by means of brace mountings 16." Q

7 ,As shown in Fig. 2, thiswheel may'be partially recessed'withi'n the upper surface of the pontoon,

as at 17," depending in partfupon the clearance 7 aiforded the wheel by the supportingstrut mem hers 10'. Parallel with and adjacent the rear member' 11 {is a" horizontal shaft 18 which ismounted for rotation in-bearing brackets 19. This.shaft:carrie s. at its outerends bevel gears 20' which, in turn engage bevel gears 21 which are L fixedly'carriedby the pontoons. Near: the centre of the shaft 18 is a gear box22 which is supported by the .member 11. Disposed within. this box gear 23- which engages a' complementarybevel gear .24. Thislatter gear is mounted on the lower "'e'ndof a vertical shaft 25jwhich extends'upwardly' into the fuselage of the'airplane ma point within the pilots compartment. The upper end of the v I shaft 25 carries a worm wheel 26 which is en-' closed within a casing 27. Associated with the worm wheel is a worm gear 28 mounted on a shaft 29 which has a handle 30 at its one end.

.111 operating the landing gear described, the pilot grasps the handle 30 and cranks the same, '2 thus transmitting the motion through the shafts 25 and 18 and effecting the rotation of the pontoon and wheel members through an angle of about the pivots 13. By this means the pilot may render operable either the wheels or'pontoons so. as to be able to effect a landing on water or land.

It will be noted that the mechanism illustrated is effective in looking the landing gear in either 0; position, and that an accidental disturbance of v the parts cannot occur.

It is of course apparent that the exact proporferent types and designs of planes and that other practicable mechanisms for manipulating the landing gear from a land to water position might beemployed. The angular relation betweenthe wheels and pontoons might be varied. So also asource of motive power might be used to sup- 2 I plant the handle 30 and effect arotation of the parts.-

It will further be understood that other changes in construction and rearrangements of the parts might be resorted to without departing from the scope of the invention,'as defined by the claims. Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure byLetters'Patent, is: 1. A landing gear of the amphibian type for association With an airplane, comprising a pontoon member and a wheel member, both of said members being pivoted at acentral point, and

means for movingeither of said members through an arc of at least 180 into operating position.

2. A landing gear of the type described including, in combination, a plurality of pontoon members, a plurality of wheel members associated therewith, each of said wheel members and pontoon members being pivoted about a central point, and means for moving either of the same through an arc of at least 180 into operating position.

3. A landing gear of the amphibian type, comprising a plurality of pontoon members, a

plurality of wheel members carried thereby,

said pontoon members and wheel members'be ing mounted on a common pivot and the center of the contact surface of each of said members being located in a perpendicular plane exsame perpendicular plane.

' rotating said pontoons about said pivots through an arc of at least 180 so as to withdraw the same from operating position whereby said wheels are rendered operable. l

51A pontoon for association with a landing gear of an airplane, comprising a body portion,

a plurality of supporting members. connected to the top surface thereof, and a wheel carried by said members, the center of the contact surface ofsaidwheel and: pontoon being located in the j-acent: said cross member, gears carried by'said 6. A pontoon for association withthe landing gear of an airplane, comprising a body member formed with a recess in the top surface thereof, supporting members mounted adjacent said recess, and a wheel cairied by said supporting members and extending into said recess, the center of the contact surface of said Wheel and pontoon being located in the same perpendicular plane.

7. A landing gear. of the character described including, in combination, a rigid cross member for association with the supporting struts of an airplane, a plurality of pontoons pivotally mounted on saidcrossi member, landing wheels carried by said pontoons, a horizontal shaft disposedadshaft adjacent each end thereof, complementary gears/fixedly carried by said pontoons and engaging said first named gears for rotatingsaid, pontoons about said pivots through an arc of at'least 180 so as towithdraw the samefrom operating position whereby said wheels arerendered operable. 8. A landing gear of the character described including, in combination, a rigidcross member for association; with the supportin'g'struts of an airplane, a; plurality of pontoons pivo'tally mount ed on said cross member,-landing wheels carried by said pontoons, a horizontal shaftd-isposed adjacent said cross member, gears carried by said shaft adjacent eachendthereo-f, complementary gears fixedly carried by said pontoons'and engaging said first named gears, and means ,for ro'' tating said pontoons' about said-pivots so as to withdraw. the same from; operating position. whereby said wheels-are rendered operable, said rotating means effecting a locking of the parts when in operating position. 1

, 9. A landing gear of the character described 7 including, in combination, a pluralityof pontoon members, a-plurality of wheel members'carried' thereby, means for selectively bringing said pontoon members or wheel members into operating position by rotation through an arc, of at least 180, and means cooperating'with said actuating meansfor locking either of said members against I further movement. r

'HOLLAND S. DUELL.

its. 

